Jack Bauer’s back (on Fox’s 24), and by an amazing coincidence, so am I! I don’t have an excuse as good as Jack’s for my long absence from blogdom: saying “I was being held hostage by Windows Vista betas and release candidates” doesn’t have nearly the cachet of a Jack Bauer involuntary “vacation,” but no matter: the long wait (for both 24 and Windows Vista) is almost over.

I’ve written for my favorite hard-core mod-happy technology magazine, Maximum PC, several times over the last few years, and I’m happy to announce that they’ve tapped me again to write a piece called The Vista Starter’s Guide for an upcoming issue (could it have anything to do with my forthcoming book Maximum PC Guide to Windows Vista Exposed?).

Keep an eye out for a special edition of the mag with two chapters from the book.